The invention relates to an air conditioner to be mounted on the roof of the body of a bus, comprising a housing in which an evaporator unit and a condenser unit are mounted.
Known air conditioners of this kind comprise a block-shaped housing having in its front wall an air intake opening extending over practically the entire width of the housing, and a condenser unit mounted behind this opening. The width of the body of the bus limits the width of the air conditioner housing, and thus the length of the condenser unit, and since the latter cannot be made as low as convenient, in order to avoid too great a resistance against the air stream, the known air conditioners must be of relatively high configuration so as to ensure the necessary heat dissipation at the condenser unit. However, the large design height of the known air conditioners not only results in a considerable increase in the vehicle's air resistance, but also in a somewhat unesthetic appearance.
The object of the invention was to create an air conditioner for a bus having a lower design height than the known constructions, but without the disadvantage of an increase in the flow resistance against the air flowing through the condenser unit.
Departing from a known air conditioner to be mounted on the roof of the body of a bus, comprising a housing in which an evaporator unit and a condenser unit are mounted, this object is attained in accordance with the invention in that at least two condenser units extending at least approximately in the longitudinal direction of the body of the bus are arranged alongside each other. Since the bus dimensions put practically no restriction on the air conditioner housing in the longitudinal direction of the body of the bus, in such a construction the condenser units can be made long enough for their dimensions in the direction of the air stream passing through them not to have to be made larger than the condenser units of known air conditioners for buses, although they can be of substantially lower design height than the condenser units of the known constructions. This lower design height of the condenser units is the precondition of the decrease in the height of the air conditioner housing.
It is expedient to design and mount the evaporator units according to the same principles as the condenser units. It is therefore advisable to mount at least two evaporator units extending at least approximately in the longitudinal direction of the body of the bus alongside each other and behind the condenser units. The evaporator units can then be practically any length and thus of low and narrow configuration, and they do not hinder adaptation of the air conditioner housing to the curvature of the roof of the bus body.
It should be noted that in spite of a laterally positioned condenser unit whose entire width is therefore subjected to the motion dependent air flow at least one suction blower must still be mounted behind the condenser unit in the above-described known air conditioner, so as to also ensure adequate heat dissipation from the condenser unit in the event that the vehicle is standing or travelling at a slow speed. Consequently, the inventive construction does not involve any additional expenditure.